⁵David was furious with the rich man and said to Nathan, “I swear by the living Lord that the man who did this deserves to die!

⁶And because he didn't have pity on the poor man, he will have to pay four times what the lamb was worth.”

⁷Then Nathan told David:

^13-14David said, “I have disobeyed the Lord .”

“Yes, you have!” Nathan answered. “You showed you didn't care what the Lord wanted. He has forgiven you, and you won't die. But your newborn son will.”

¹⁵Then Nathan went back home.

David's Young Son Dies

The Lord made David's young son very sick.

¹⁶So David went without eating to show his sorrow, and he begged God to make the boy well. David would not sleep on his bed, but spent each night lying on the floor.

¹⁷His officials stood beside him and tried to talk him into getting up. But he would not get up or eat with them.

¹⁸After the child had been sick for seven days, he died, but the officials were afraid to tell David. They said to each other, “Even when the boy was alive, David wouldn't listen to us. How can we tell him his son is dead? He might do something terrible!”

¹⁹David noticed his servants whispering, and he knew the boy was dead. “Did my son die?” he asked his servants.

“Yes, he did,” they answered.

²⁰David got up off the floor; he took a bath, combed his hair, and dressed. He went into the Lord 's tent and worshiped, then he went back home. David asked for something to eat, and when his servants brought him some food, he ate it.

²¹His officials said, “What are you doing? You went without eating and cried for your son while he was alive! But now that he's dead, you're up and eating.”

²²David answered:

Solomon Is Born

²⁴David comforted his wife Bathsheba and slept with her. Later on, she gave birth to another son and named him Solomon. The Lord loved Solomon

²⁵and sent Nathan the prophet to tell David, “The Lord will call him Jedidiah.”[#12.25 In Hebrew this name means “Loved by the .”]

The End of the War with Ammon

²⁶Meanwhile, Joab had been in the country of Ammon, attacking the city of Rabbah. He captured the royal fortress

²⁷and sent a messenger to tell David:

²⁹David called the rest of the army together and attacked Rabbah. He captured the city

³⁰and took the crown from the statue of their god Milcom. The crown was made of about 35 kilograms of gold, and there was a valuable jewel on it. David put the jewel on his own crown. He also carried off everything else of value.[#12.30 Or “their king.”; #12.30 Or “and David wore the crown.”]

³¹David made the people of Rabbah tear down the city walls with iron picks and axes, and then he put them to work making bricks. He did the same thing with all the other Ammonite cities.[#12.31 One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.]

David went back to Jerusalem, and the people of Israel returned to their homes.